PETALING JAYA: A coalition of student groups, called Kesatuan, has threatened to hold a protest rally against Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) over its decision to reinstate a suspension order on final-year law student Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi.

Kesatuan spokesperson Anis Syafiqah Yusof gave UKM a week to respond and explain why the suspension has been reinstated.

She said the student groups will hold the rally outside UKM.

On November 2016, Asheeq was suspended for one semester by UKM and fined RM200 for his involvement in the #TangkapMO1 rally.

Asheeq, at that time, had argued that he was never charged in court for any offences.

The rally was organised by a coalition of students and youth groups calling for the arrest of the person named “MO1” in the United States’ Department of Justice’s civil suit related to state investment fund 1MDB. Read more →

Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram speaking at the launch of the Selangor Bar’s new auditorium in Section 13, Shah Alam, today. He says if a pre-Merdeka law cannot be brought to accord with the constitution because it violates the doctrine of separation of powers, then the court has ‘no choice, but to strike it down’. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin

THE use of the British-inherited Sedition Act 1948 to prosecute individuals is unconstitutional as it is a pre-Merdeka law, said a former Federal Court judge.

Gopal Sri Ram, who represented Anwar Ibrahim in the opposition leader’s second sodomy trial in 2014, said only Parliament had the power to impose restrictions on freedom of speech.

“The Sedition Act is an existing law. All right. It is good. You can frame it up on your wall. But, you cannot prosecute anyone under it because it is not a law made by Parliament.

“So, it is an existing law and a valid law, but it cannot be enforced,” he said during a lecture at the launch of the Selangor Bar’s new auditorium in Section 13, Shah Alam.

Protesters sit on the road at Jalan Ampang during the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur November 2016. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa for the MMO.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 ― Malaysia has not made progress on various human rights areas, Amnesty International (AI) said in its annual report on the country released today.

The group highlighted six problem areas for the country: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, arbitrary arrests and detentions, police and security forces, refugees and asylum seekers and death penalty.

“The persistent crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression and the lack of police accountability in Malaysia are among the major concerns raised in the Amnesty International Report 2016/2017 released today. Read more →

JAKARTA — Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia today joined the growing chorus of civil society groups and human rights advocates calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Maria Chin Abdullah, Chairperson of Bersih 2.0, a movement for clean government and free and fair elections in Malaysia.

MPs also called for the repeal of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA), an anti-terror law which was invoked following Ms. Chin’s arrest on Friday.

“SOSMA is a security law designed to arrest terrorists. There is no justification for its use in this case and it is clearly being abused. Maria Chin Abdullah is not a terrorist; she is a human rights defender and a committed citizen promoting peaceful public activism. She must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament and Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

Maria Chin Abdullah was arrested the night of Friday, 18 November under Section 124C of the Penal Code, which outlaws “attempts to commit an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy.” On Saturday authorities revealed that she was also being investigated under SOSMA, which allows for her detention without charge for up to 28 days. Read more →

PETALING JAYA: Hours after Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said street demonstrations are not part of the Malaysian culture, Maria Chin Abdullah (pix) reminded everyone that it was through that means that the country gained independence.

The Bersih 2.0 chairman even suggested to the Prime Minister that Umno would not have survived today if it had not gone out to the streets to demonstrate.

“Street demonstrations have always been our culture. If you even remember how we won our independence, we were on the streets.

“Right from the beginning of our history. It is part of our right to dissent,” she told a press conference, here, today.

“We wanted to show them (British) at that time that we wanted change, and now to show to the government that people are serious about it,” she added.

Maria said she was also confident that the turnout for the Bersih 5 rally tomorrow would be huge, despite the threats hurled by Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos and his Red Shirts. Read more →

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